A Different Circumstance
by DarkerMS
Summary: An AU, where Hachiman is the heir to a multi-billion dollar company. It's a different circumstance. With a rich father getting drunk with his best friend some ten years ago, Hikigaya finds that he's legally engaged! More info inside. My first story, so reviews are appreciated. T just to be safe, but generally for all ages. Thank you all so much for all the support!
1. Chapter 1: Prologue

**A/N: Hey guys! It's been a long time since my 'How to Write a Naruto FanFiction'. Anyone remember that? No? Well screw that. I promised some stories as 'soon to come' but school is relentless. After juggling several reports and essays, here I am with an OreGairu story. Thank god for summer. I will be travelling, so don't expect too many updates due to Wi-Fi issues, but I will be writing, so sooner or later they'll be there. I've also been playing the crap out of Batman: Arkham Knight, but I can assure you I will not neglect fanfiction in the least.**

 **I've had this AU in my mind for an extremely long time, so never got down to writing it. The AU contains a (extremely, but not over exaggeratedly) rich Hachiman (It's an AU, please bear with me) and a crippled one. The circumstances are quite different, but I plan to follow the events of the series. Constructive criticism is appreciated, since this is my first official story. (My guides do not count). Enjoy if you will. As the tags for this story suggest, T rating and HachixYukino as the main pairing for this fic. You'll see why soon enough.**

An Irritated boy sat next to the windows at a coffee shop. The boy, upon closer inspection, obviously did have some wealthy parents, considering it's not every day you see a high-schooler in a high end shopping district in Tokyo, in a ridiculously overpriced coffee shop. He sighed, annoyed at the amount of time he had to sit there.

Opening his eyes, as boring as a dead-fish's as he takes the coffee and takes his first sip in god knows how long. ' _Cold'_ he thinks. ' _Why do people even have these meetings? That may seem strange coming from a youthful person like me. Ha. What a joke. Youth is simply an illusion. An illusion created by hypocrites who create more illusions for the world to see, and pass off as 'personalities'. Although Okaa-sama definitely hates when I bring up youth. Any friendship that involves having an image to keep, isn't much of a friendship at all. However all friendships have images to keep, thus making friendship a fool's delusion of companionship. Source: HikiPedia. Otou-sama always did act overly friendly with those stock-brokers. That image he keeps up in front of his 'friends' who are merely partners in the firm. He does have his friends though. Like that Yukinoshita guy from his childhood home… Chiba was it..?'_

His internal monologue was cut short with a beautiful woman with dark brown hair walked in. Her clothes screamed 'rich' in everyone's faces, not to mention that limousine she just walked out of. Everyone turned like moths to a light. Except one individual. This breathtaking, socially-groomed woman's son, who didn't even bother giving a second glance and just gave a lazy wave at her. ' _Same as always… never comments on how young I look… just like his damn father. DAMN YOU HIKIGAYA MEN!'_

Keeping this to herself of course (she has a reputation to keep after all), she walks up and settles into the chair opposite him. Speaking finally after a short while, "What was so urgent that it couldn't wait till I got home?" he asked, again, lazily.

"Why do I always have to have a reason? Can't I just want to see my son on impulse?" she chided.

"Yes, but you do have an agenda don't you?" Hachiman, eying the papers in his mother's hand.

She just sighed at his observant skills. "Yes, yes I do, but before that, how are you doing? You only got out of the hospital two weeks ago"

He subconsciously rubbed his thigh, a reminder of the kind of pain he was in. "I'm fine. Anyway, can we cut to the chase, what did you need me out here for?"

"Hey that's mean… talk to me more… Alright, I'll cut to it, but seriously, you need a personality change Hachi…" she trailed off. They were obviously very close, despite being a mistress and heir to a corporate empire. "Ok, I won't sugar coat it. You're engaged."

He spit out his coffee right back into the cup. Out of the infinite number of possibilities in an infinite number of parallel universes, that was the last thing he would expect to hear. "WHAT?!" what his only reaction. He was utterly speechless. They may be a corporate family, but arranged marriages weren't in their style. All of his grandfathers, uncles and his own father had their own marriages out of love, so what was possibly different?

"OK…" he started after regaining his bearings for a bit. "Why?" was all he could say. The (aggravatingly) older Hikigaya was slightly confused by the vague question so he elaborated. "We obviously aren't in the doldrums, our partners are wide scattered enough, so there's absolutely no reason for there to this marriage to be political or power related. So why?"

She only smiled again at his perceptiveness. ' _With that attitude and reading of people, our future rivals don't stand a CHANCE.'_ "Well it's political in a different sense" she said cryptically, knowing he would get it now.

As expected, she got the reaction she wanted out of him. ' _Mom-1, Hachi-0'_

"Are you trying to tell me that I'm engaged to Yukinoshita Yukino? I've only met her once. As a CHILD. How was this even decided? Why? What? When?-" He had so many questions running in his head. What would be his future now? His dream of being a simple house husband NEET (Not in education, employment, or training) , living off his incredible assets handled by his company. He was in a haze of panic, only to be cut off again by his mother.

"Your baka fathers did that. Apparently, after a huge party, drunk way too high above the legal level your father and Yukinoshita-san decided it would be a great idea to have the same grandchildren… Your's and Yukino-san's fingerprints are right here to confirm the engagement." She said handing him the papers to skim over.

"Please tell me you're here to tell me I can break it off" he was scared now. His mother had that glint in her eye.

"Quite the contrary. When I found the papers in the safe, I had your father call Yukinoshita-san to talk about it. But those two idiots only ramble when they talk, and it doesn't seem they're any less willing to have this arrangement." She finally said, finishing with a huge sigh.

"…. Why am I not surprised by this?" he said sighing as well.

"I figured this will be a good change of pace for you. I do know how much you hate living in the city here." Not exactly, considering their mansion bordered on the countryside, with a huge forest behind it. "So, you finally have an excuse. What would you say about moving to your father's hometown?"

"Does my vote actually count?" he asked, genuinely. Not as a joke. Genuinely. "No." and she genuinely replied.

"When do I head out? As much as I don't want this I do want to leave this place." He shuddered at the horrifying memories of his eighth-grader syndrome. He doesn't want to the recall the impending destruction of the world from the wrath 3 deities of- crap. He had to get out of here.

"As I thought. I took the liberty of getting you an apartment. I know you like simpler ones, but if you insist on dragging that piano of yours, I got you a penthouse. You have the expenses in your bank. (I won't bore you with details of the amount, so I'll use this How I met your mother reference) about 5 Craploads a month." She finished.

"Leave it to you to plan ahead…"

"You leave in a week. Anything else?" she said, calmly, in conclusion to the groundbreaking news she just conveyed to her son.

"No. I will have to talk about this with dad though. I'm leaving now though, lunch period is almost over." Putting over the amount to pay for his nearly untouched drink, he grabbed the school bag and his cane and limped out of the shop, thinking about the weird experiences to add to his already weird life, his mother leaving behind him as well.

 **A/N: That didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would. I will try focusing on some HachimanXYumiko after this, since Zeroexist, an incredible fellow OreGairu author got me into it. I really feel that HachixYumi brings a lot to the table, since you're creating their own chemistry, unlike other pairings, where their relationship is preset, and you have to follow up on that. That doesn't mean I dislike other pairings though. I'm also working on something for Tokyo Ghoul, so that'll be out in a day or two as well. Anyway in the meantime, please review this, even if it turn out a piece of crap. And check out Zeroexist! See you guys in Ch2 hopefully. Cheers. - DarkerSS**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: UPDATING EVERYTHING! I'm Busy Combining chapters, clumping stuff together to fix some major issues with chapters on the stories. This should help the words to chapter ratio, and it deos seem that I finally figured out how to write longer stuff.**

 **Disclaimer: I do NOT own Oregairu. It's handled by an author way better than me. I'd probably screw it up if I did own it.**

 **One Week Later**

' _Just stay calm… *whew* why am I so nervous? I don't care about first appearances and all but seriously…'_ thought the main character we know and love of this RomCom as he stood out of the Faculty office, In his new uniform, probably in even better condition than factory made. Well at least he gets to use the elevators, with his 'condition'.

' _My condition'_ he thought to himself. His thoughts went to the same morning.

 _ **Flashback**_

He was having a dream. That same dream again. _Him on a bicycle, which he insisted on rather than his personal vehicle when he spotted that small girl out on the street. His body just moved. Moved as fast as it could to push that child off that street, away from the car, almost completely running over his right thigh. He was lucky to even have the leg. The muscle had died, and had to be removed, and now, with a cluster of vital nerves removed in the process, he was akin to pain. Constantly. His body just moved, and he didn't regret it one bit…_ He opened his eyes and stared blankly at the ceiling of his home of one week. " _School starts today huh?"_ he muttered, before opening the bottle of painkillers and downing his morning dose.

 _ **Flashback end**_

After a few moments of putting away that memory, he knocked on the door to the faculty room. ' _Come in'_ said a muffled voice, and he opened the door and limped in. A woman around her 30s was found to be the source of the voice. "I'm— he started but she cut him off. "Yeah, I know. You're the new transfer right? Hikigaya Hachiman? I'm Hiratsuka Shizuka, or Hiratsuka-sensei to you. I will be teaching you Class Lit. And I'm your homeroom teacher as well. Nice to meet you." She finished with a grace of a smile, presenting her hand, which he took and shook.

"Likewise" _'No ring…'_ He observed, while shaking her hand. ' _Something in my gut tells me to not get too involved with this woman…'_ She was just about to give him a handbook for new students when the caretaker came in, roses in his hand.

"Package from a special someone to unimportant-sensei!" It was then that the handbook was torn in half before reaching the student. The unimportant sensei, oblivious as all unimportant people are, was giggling like a schoolgirl while staring at her ring and the roses, an engagement one from what he could tell. ' _Please someone marry this woman before he rips my head off. Please. Anyone. My gut feeling was right! I really should keep my distance from this woman!'_ Oh Hikki. If only you knew what's in store for you.

"Never mind the handbook, it's generally useless anyway" she finished, with a deep sigh to calm herself down. "Come on, I'll take you up to the classrooms", she said opening the door and walking to the elevators to the second floor classroom, him limping in tow.

"You're in class 2-F by the way. Like I mentioned, that's my class." She walked up to the door and leaving it open, he waited.

"Ok kids, today we're going to be getting a transfer student! So listen up and pay attention while he introduces himself!" she said as she motioned for him to walk into the class. While walking up he had already made a few calculations as to how this would go. Out of these most of his predictions came true:

They would not expect the limp.

They would not expect it to be him. Most people who follow stocks and business know who he is.

The boys would be in disappointment as the new transfer wasn't a girl.

Now on to what he DIDN'T expect:

A death glare from some blonde girl. Probably intimidated. She looked like the queen bee around here, so when someone like him shows up, she was probably marking her territory.

Everyone's Hayama Hayato. This one he really didn't expect. What was this idiot doing here? ' _Of all the places…'_ All he did was give that dumb smile of his at seeing one of his old acquaintances.

"Hello everyone. My name is Hikigaya Hachiman, but judging by the looks on your faces, most of you already seem to know that. I'd ask you to take care of me like a normal student would greet, but that just sounds pretentious to me. I want to be like a normal student, so please don't treat me like royalty or above all of you. I hope we get along just fine." He finished. Leaving the class with a moment of silence to let the fact sink in that one of the most powerful people in Japan in the future would be in their class.

Hayama Hayato was not expecting that one of his old 'friends' would transfer here. _'I wonder why'_ was what he was asking himself at the time.

The classes went by without anything much of interest, however apparently there was now a popularity poll between the resident blonde boy wonder who put a smile on everyone's faces and the mysterious rich boy who made the front page by nearly sacrificing himself to save a little girl.

It was lunch now, and Hiratsuka-sensei had just arrived to drag Hikigaya out and into the hallway. "I need to have a word with you." she said.

"Clearly" he replied. He had a pretty good idea of what this impromptu conversation was about. She didn't expect to pick up a second Yukinoshita like this. _'Must some sort of rich kid thing'_ she thought to herself.

"What the hell is this?" she asked, lifting out his first Class Lit. Essay about 'high school', with the _'should go and freaking die.'_ Blatant for everyone to read. He just stared blankly, saying "I think the essay stands for the point I was trying to make here"

She knew it. Of course he had to be just like her. Her. _'Hmm… maybe, just maybe, these two can get it together.'_ She thought. At this moment she had no idea that she was about to create one of the most awkward conversations in history in a short few hours. "Hikigaya, I'll come to the classroom after school. There's somewhere I'd like to take you."

 **After School**

And so he just sat there, waiting for yet another aggravatingly aging woman. Welcome back chapter 1. He was twirling his cane in his hands, a habit he picked up quite was trying to think of how exactly he would bring up the concept of being engaged to a fiance that you haven't met in 8 or 9 years… Oh well at least he had a few days to think it over, right? Oh Hikki, You're in some deep crap now.

"Ready to go Hikigaya?" Asked the sensei who probably give away her car when drunk. He only grunted in response and got up from the seat in the empty classroom. "Where and what would this place happen to be?" He asked, yawning.

"Oh nowhere, just down the hall from here in the other section of the building." The walk was about 5 minutes long, making pretty good pace despite Hikigaya's limp. Finally, she stopped at a classroom with no sign on it, denoting that it was an unused classroom. As she opened the door he was engulfed, so to speak, by the light and wind from the open window escaping the room from the opened door. In the room his eyes went straight to the lone individual sitting in the room, Yukinoshita Yukino, just looking up from the book, presumably light novel based on the cover page, that she was reading.

"Knock!" she said, on impulse. Apparently this was a common occurring. Wait a second, why would she bring him here of all places?

"I would, but You never answer when I do. And what happened to recruiting new members? It's been nearly 4 months since the school year started and not a single new member has been added to the club" she said.

"Well its off to a rough start but-" she started but she was cut off in between

"Well I have answered to your prayers, as here with me I have your newest member!" She said, smiling and gesturing to the one male in the room. Hikigaya paled considerably at this, and so did Yukino. It was pretty clear that similar thoughts were running through the both of them. _Two years with a fiance I met 8 or 9 years ago…"_ they shuddered at the akward moments that would inevitably come forward in the school year.

"I refuse, This man looks like a lech that would tear my clothes off in a haze of masculine fervor and proceed to have his way with-" but her mouth was covered by Hiratsuka-sensei just in time so as to save this fanfiction from going beyond to an M rating.

"I know you two knew each other as children you know. And this isn't as a favor for me. Hikigaya here needs some major personality changes. And I'm also speaking on behalf of his mother." he said, huffing her chest, and crossing her arms.

"You spoke to my _Mother?_ " he asked, though not really surprised that his mother would say that to her.

"Yes. Anyway, Yukinoshita, I will be leaving him in your care from now on." And with that, she left the room.

Silence.

That was all that was left in the room as the lovely pair stared at each other, unable to say much.

"So we're…." started Hachiman "Engaged" finished Yukino. "What now?" They both asked simultaneously while sighing.

"I think we need to establish some principles here. What are we? What is THIS? And where is this gonna go?" asked Yukino, slightly distressed. ' _Hm, She's paling up. she probably still hasn't had enough time to process all this. And I'm sure that devil incarnate Haruno Yukinoshita was all fun and games to deal with after hearing something like that'_ Haruno Yukinoshita. She was so easily _Hatable_. That's probably something else they shared in common.

"Calm Down." He suddenly said, firmly, She decided to take a break from her almost rant and sat back into the chair she was sitting on when he first entered the room.

"What are we? We're probably an item, whether we like it or not, though based on memory and the fact that there's no one else here in this clubroom tells me that you probably didn't have any big plans for a high school romance either way, so we shouldn't have a problem with that. What is THIS? THIS is something between acquaintances. That will probably have to change in the near future, but we have the rest of high school for that one. Where is this going? I'd rather leave that question up to you." He finished, dragging up a chair for himself.

Sitting down he started rubbing his thigh. The pain was particularly worse today. He took out the Aleve from his pocket. It hardly did anything for the pain, but all his other medication were opiates, and could only be taken in regulated doses. He tossed out two pills and swallowed them dry. He then looked straight at Yukino, who was watching the ordeal, as if he was expecting her to say something. She looked confused so he spoke out his thoughts.

"Well, the only reason you would ask me where this was going was if you're expecting it to go somewhere. I'm all ears." he said. She raised her head a bit and looked up, an indication that she had found what she wanted to say. She was still quite astonished at how intelligent and perceptive this guy was.

"I don't mind the marriage. Like you said, I'm not exactly the type to have a dream highschool romance here, but if I'm going to get married to someone, there has to be something there. If there's nothing between us, then what would a marriage do other than bore the both of us?"

' _That was surprisingly mature of her'_ "Well,-"

"That, and the dead fish-eyes are making me fear for my chastity."

"I think I could probably live with those terms. I would expect us to shake hands as a declaration of friendship, but I think we were somewhat friends already. But lets shake to it anyway." He got up, and rested his weight on his cane as he raised his right hand and it met hers. There was a small silence as the shake was held. They definitely had a sense of mutual respect for each other. They both descended into silence, Yukinoshita eventually going back to her book and Hikigaya making a note to bring one in tomorrow since it seemed like they didn't really do much in terms of club activities. That's when something clicked.

"Hey, you never said, what does this club do anywa-" he was cut off by the door opening hastily.

"Excuse me _-*pant-pant-*_ Is this the service club?" Said a girl with orangish hair as she stood panting at the door.

"Uh… Why did you run here?" Asked a confused Hikigaya.

 **A/N: CH2 DONE! This was fun to write, especially when I wrote about what Hachi expected and didn't expect when he came in the classroom. Thank you so much for the support from those who followed reviewed and read this story.**

 **MY UPDATES ARE UPON US!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: The Updating Continues, Hope this improves the quality of the story.**

"Excuse me…. Is this the Service Club?" said a girl with pinkish orange hair. He prayed to god that didn't represent her personality. He certainly did not want to get involved with those 'Nice Girl' personalities on the first day here. Wait a minute… "Service Club?" muttered the protagonist of this light novel.

"What does the service club do?" asked the only boy in the room.

"We provide help to the students. People come here with requests and we do what is in our power to aid them and to help them achieve their goals. All in all it's mostly what the name suggests." said in her usual monotone/faraway voice. At least she managed to regain some of her composure from that conversation. Good for her.

Turning the attention back to the source of the outburst in the room, hachiman spoke. "So I assume you have something you wanted to consult us about?"

 _(Most stuff following is directly from the anime)_

"Yes…. Wait WHY IS HIKKI HERE?!"

"Yes um... I'm kind of a member here now" _'Wait… Is this Hikki me? And who the hell is she?"_

"Hiratsuka-sensei told me to come here" said the girl, entering the room and closing the door behind her.

"Yuigahama-san, What brings you to the service club?" asked Yukinoshita, positioning her chair to face the two of them and sitting down.

"Ah, you know who I am?" asked the bubbly character in the middle.

"Well, it's been a few months, I don't see why I shouldn't know a fellow classmate by now, even if we are in different classes."

"I bet you know everyone here" said Hachiman, sitting down again. You could clearly see the relief he felt on his face when he sat down. He was having a bad pain day. There was a momentary silence watching him settle down, and then the conversation continued.

"Well, I hadn't heard about you coming here until now. And I'm sure it was the same where you used to go as well." she said unceremoniously, ironic considering who he was.

"Right…" he turned away, sulking?

"Don't worry. If you are worried then I'll just pretend you don't exist. I have a weak heart you see." She said, with the cold, icy voice that's colder than the worst day in the North Pole.

"What is that? Some sort of consolation?"

"It's called irony" She finished.

Yui stayed silent for a moment, following the banter. ' _Is this foreplay?'_ and then started. "So then…. This is a fun club!" she said with stars in her eyes. _'That's what you take from that conversation?!'_ The one male in the room thinks to himself. She really is starting to seem more and more like a 'Nice Girl', and he was starting to get pissed off.

"And wow Hikki, you sure talk a lot don't you?" she said.

"Eh?" was all he could muster. She completely threw him off his thought process a moment ago. This is why he hated nice girls… unpredictable, until, of course, they are. Then you can read them like an open book.

"Well.. How do I put this? You hardly spoke to anyone and brushed of any possibilities of establishing a friendship today! You're totally different from when you're in class! To be honest… how do I say this… You're a bit weird at times!"

"You damn bitch…" He muttered loud enough for the people in the room to hear.

"What? I'm not a bitch! I'm still a virg- Wooahh nevermind!" she finished with a blush in regard to what she was just about to say.

"That's not embarrassing at this age is it?" Said Yukino, rejoining the conversation.

"It's still embarrassing! Aren't you an advocate for girl-power?" She said.

"What a senseless value to advocate…" was Yukino's response.

"You sure sounded like a total bitch when you said 'Girl-Power'" rejoined Hikki.

"You said it again! You really are sick Hikki!"

"Me calling you a bitch and me being sick are two different things. And don't call me Hikki Bitch." He landed the final blow to the conversation, with Yukino unknowingly aiding Hikigaya in a double team with Yui taking over 9000 hits to her pride.

"ANYWAY…. What was the reason behind your visit?" Asked Yukino, eager to move on with the damn story and stop stealing lines from the anime.

 **Home Education Classroom, a few minutes later**

"Cookies?" asked the protagonist of this romantic comedy.

"Yes… apparently she wants someone to try her homemade cookies" said the president of this fun club. She had tied her long hair into twin tails and put on an apron after taking off her blazer. _'She actually looks cute..'_ mindlessly thought Hachiman, as usual forgetting the fact that he has been staring for a few seconds now.

"Please stop staring at me with those lecherous dead fish eyes stalker-kun." Said making a protective stance.

"S-sorry." muttered Hachi as he looked away with a slight blush on his face.

"Anyway, isn't that the kind of thing you would ask your friends?" asked Hikki.

"No… I can never be this serious with them… I don't really want them to know about it either"

He figured as much. He had seen his fair share of high school girl drama… He was never really one to know much about these things, he sort of just stayed out of everyone's way. He never really knew what it was about girls and making cookies for the boys they like. Even Komachi did it once.

"Anyway, Isn't this club to get people to achieve their dreams?"

"No. We only lend a helping hand. We do not give the starving a fish. We teach him how to fish and be self-sufficient."

Wow, he was not expecting that answer to be honest. Maybe she actually made this club with the intention for it to mean something. Sure, he could think of 20 contradictions to that statement, but that wasn't the point here.

 **One Hell later**

"I-... I didn't know it was possible to mess up that much… How did they come out so bad?" muttered an exhausted Yukino as she wiped the sweat off her forehead and sighed. The windows were opened as to prevent the fire alarm from going off.

"It looks like some kind of charcoal" added Hikigaya to the conversation. "I think it's poisonous too…"

"It is not!" said the bubbly person and grabbed it. "Actually…" she said as she took a second look at them, "they might be."

"You don't want to die?" Yukino asked her childhood friend with the cane. "OK. Let's try to make them better."

 **Another Hell Later**

"How am I supposed to teach her." groaned an even more tired Yukino with her head in her hands. She might even be ready to take back the motivational speech which I decided to cut out because I'm still ripping from the anime.

Hachiman on the other hand had held up a piece of the cookie, staring at it. _'Wow… The next generation is… really screwed.'_ On the other hand… Maybe this Yuigahama girl didn't really have to do anything at all...

"Hmm… Leave this up to me." said Hachiman to their client and his bride-to-be. "I ask you to leave the room and come back in 20 minutes."

Yukino was both curious and desperate at this point, so she decided to humor him and left the room with Yui.

 **20 minutes later**

"Well here we are!" said the rich boy as he lifted up a batch that looked like all hell had been broken loose upon it. Needless to say, it didn't look like the most appealing thing in the world.

"Go on, Try it!" He said with a smile, that wasn't recognized as fake.

As they tried it, various comments were made.

"This is your idea of delicious homemade cookies? I need to have a word with your mansion's cook..."

"These aren't delicious."

"Well then I guess I'll throw them away..." muttered Hachiman.

"Wait! These aren't that bad." she said gulping down the rest of the cookie.

"Hmm… Strange considering, these are your cookies." said Hachiman, placing the plate on the counter.

"What?! Then why did you make us leave?"

"To show you that with the way social protocol is, there's no need for you to be exceptionally good at making cookies. Social convention dictates that even if something that tastes like _**that**_ you won't be let down by anyone. The fact that you went through the hard work to make homemade cookies for them would be enough to claim their hearts. Even if it is just an act of friendship." Reminiscing about the story of his 'friend of a friend'.

"I don't like the solution… but I believe that is true." said Yukino in resignation to trying to teach this girl how to cook.

"Oh… well despite it all, at least I got to learn something out of it." said Yui.

"Now, on to cleaning up." Said Yukino. Then they realized that they were gonna need bigger brushes.

 **Early Evening, Hachiman's Apartment** (No more anime ripping, YAY!)

It was nearly 4:30 when Hachiman reached his penthouse. Now that he thinks of it, Yukino doesn't live too far from here does she? It's the same complex as far as he knows. He was just about to take his medicine when the phone buzzed. That ringtone meant it was his mother.

"Hey okaa-sama. How's life without me?" said Hachiman as he greeted his mother on the phone.

"I'm already crying that my little boy has left the nest." she greeted back sarcastically. It was always like this whenever they spoke when they were away from each other. "Was your first day eventful?" she inquired.

"Oh you have no idea" was all he replied before giving a rundown of his day. He had taken his medicine while on the phone.

"Oh yeah, until the maid I hired comes in I've asked Yukino to get you something for dinner for the next few days. Apparently she's only a few blocks away in the apartment complex. I'm okay with convenience food for lunch but I need to make sure you've been eating something healthy! Have fun Hachi!"

"Wait Wha-" But the line ended before he could process what she said. He already felt himself losing a bit of his awareness. Those pills really do make him droopy.

 **A Few Hours Later**

Those were the last words he spoke to his mother that evening. Hachiman was lying down on his sofa, daydreaming about his first day. So much information to process. His day was full of surprises. Come to think of it, he still hadn't spoken to Hayato.

He had realized that he was still in his uniform. He needed a bath. He did have quite a while until his 'date' got here, so he might as well take a bath. He reeked of burnt cooking.

 **8:00 PM**

 **Switch POV**

She walked up to his apartment block, still wondering why the hell she agreed to this. She was calm, collected, rational, and would have never agreed to something like this be it anyone else. She was crazy, but her curiosity after meeting an individual like her got the better of her.

She rang the intercom at the main entrance after a moment's hesitation. _'No point in running, I'm supposed to eventually marry him anyhow.'_

"Who is it?" He asked, though it was pretty obvious.

"Yukino." She replied shortly.

"Come on up." And the door to the inside had opened.

She walked though and pressed the elevator to the 12th floor. As she approached the door she heard the soft playing of a piano coming through the door of the apartment.

' _He plays?'_ she thought to herself. He didn't really seem like the type at all. The piece was soft, mellow and had a solemn feel to it. Nothing like she had ever heard before. She was caught in her thought process, so she didn't notice the music stopping and the cane thumping towards her until the door had been opened.

"Hey." he said as he opened the door, gesturing her to come in.

"Oh, sorry- I was um… You play nice." she said

"Thanks…" He muttered. He wasn't used to being complimented, despite the praise from all the servants at home who had overheard him playing.

He had already set the table. "I kept the rice like you asked." he said as she moved to the dining table and set down the curry she brought with her.

"You know, you didn't have to go through the trouble." he added as he sat down opposite her.

"Oh, it's nothing really. I live alone as well, so I cook all the time. One person extra isn't really anything." 

"Oh, Well-" 

"And of course, after seeing a mother care so deeply for her misfit, lecherous, dead-fish degenerate son was so touching, I just couldn't refuse." She said, smiling to herself. This was always how it was all those years ago. Insulting each other to the bone, and enjoying the conversation they could never hope to have with any other individual.

"Oh har har. That's rich coming from you." Said Hikigaya, referring to her own issues with her mother. He had met the woman only once in his life, but it took one meeting to know that the woman cared for nothing but power, even more than her husband. Hell, the man actually seemed decent but he couldn't get past the obsession she had with controlling things. He knows that's the one and only reason haruno is as screwed up as she is.

She was slightly taken aback by that reply. He quickly apologized. "Sorry…"

"No it's fine. You said nothing but the truth. It's just that the topic of my mother hasn't come to my head recently."

"Ok… If you wanna talk about it-"

"I know." she finished. "Speaking of family, when was the last time you met my sister? I know you meet her a lot."

"I recall meeting Haruno just a few weeks ago, in Tokyo." In that same coffee shop where he found out about this engagement. That place sends off a bad omen.

"Why do you ask? Wait. Don't even bother with that question." He honestly didn't want to know. For some reason, that woman who barely ever _really_ gets along with anyone, considered him a friend. Always asking him for advice and laughing at his cynical responses and solutions to everything. One of the few people that really enjoyed his company. He enjoyed hers as well. Only just about 80% of the time. Though one thing he knew was that their mother seriously had a lot to answer for. (Foreshadowing imminent)

"Ok, well I don't know about you, but I'm starving! Itadakimasu!" and with that he put some rice and curry into his plate with Yukino following suit right after.

 **After the meal**

"I didn't think it was humanly possible to devour that much in a single sitting." Came the smooth voice of Yukino. She had a smile on her face. She was amused. Never seen that one before.

"Well, I was hungry. It's been a long day and you know it." he replied back, also smiling.

"You should smile more you know." He added without thinking, massively embarrassed when he caught himself, but of course, he was a master at hiding emotion, and covered it up.

Yukino on the other hand wasn't faring too well, with an enormous blush radiating of her face.

He chuckled at the fact that he could actually make the ice-queen blush. She of course noticed this and shot a half-hearted glare.

"I would tell you the same, but you would just look like a molester, Creepygaya-kun"

"That hurt. I was complimenting you." he said with a fake pout, still struggling not to smile.

"Oh, by the way, we have a club application form for a new member." she said, remembering something she wanted to bring up with him earlier.

"Someone actually signed up of their own free will?! Wait a minute, I have an idea of who that is…."

"Yeah. It's Yuigahama-san. She told me she loved the conversations and friendship and the motive in our club and wants to join." 

"Conversation? Friendship? Was she dropped as a child?"

"Hard to say. But needless to say, I took it up with sensei and she said it was a good thing that we lunatic rich kids made a friend."

"You, me, Yuigahama and several socially-stunted high-school kids with goals. This is going to be an Interesting year, isn't it?" He said, Staring with a hint of a smile. Despite the constant loathing of social interaction, he almost found it rewarding when he was able to piece together his knowledge of teenage friendship from observation alone to reach the solution he did today.

"Yes. I suppose it is."

' _And so, the official start of the service club is here at last.'_

 **A/N: Update continues…**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: You guys are awesome. That's all I have to say. I'm terribly sorry for the last chapter being so short, but I had 3 assignments due last week which included reports, presentations and god knows what. I may have a second chapter out a week from now as well since I don't seem to have much this week.**

 **Update: The Rearrangement Continues!**

 **Chapter 4**

 **The day after the dinner**

Hachiman got out of the car and stepped into the school, with a wave to the driver.

"Will you be needing to be picked up right after school goshujin-sama?" she said, standing by the car.

"No, I have to go to club after school. And don't call me tha-" He was suddenly glomped by the brunette driver and his cane fell to the ground. Needless to say, everyone stared at the strange scene.

"Oh my! You joined a club! Little Hachi is finally coming out of his shell and making friends!" This was weird. Not often do you see a chauffeur bear hugging their employer. But of course, she was like a sister to Hikigaya and no one seemed to mind. Her pride always made her call him with the respect he deserved, but the Onee-chan mode always came out some way or the other.

"Joined? More like coerced into it. Either way, I'll call you when I'm going to leave." He said, blushing madly.

"Please stop hugging me now Sakuya. People are staring." He said nervously.

"Oh I don't mind" she said jokingly. He struggled and she eventually let go.

"Okay well, call me when you're done. I have a few errands for your apartment that Okugata-sama(Lady of the house AKA Hachi's mom) asked me to run. Have a fun day at school!" and with that she got into the very very very fancy car that shall not be named and drove off.

"I wish…" he muttered at that last goodbye, picking up his cane. When he got up another fancy car pulled in. Out of it two people came out. One was his Beautiful fia- wait what? *ahem* One was the ice cold queen with an expression that did not fit her description. The reason for this could be only on thing. Well maybe two things. _'Dammit… That look means only one thing.'_

"Hachi-kun! So nice to see you!" Said the ever so dazzling Haruno Yukinoshita. She walked up to him and gave him a hug, earning a very threatening glare from every boy near the entrance. Hell even some _girls_ were jealous at the scene. _'That's the second cute girl to hug him in the last 5 minutes!'_

He actually returned the hug, after several times of what could be called 'Pavlovian correction treatment' **(1)** in the past.

" _You know, It's such a shame you are marrying my sister. I would love to have you all to myself darling"_ She whispered in a sing-song voice in his ear. Regardless of the fact that he knew she was joking, he was still steaming in embarrassment.

"Ah, It's so fun teasing you Hachi-kun! Anyway, I've gotta run, but you owe me a coffee sometime 'kay?" She said in the useful radiant confident tone she put up to hide all that pain her mother caused her, making her life for her.

He read that on her face and told her that the moment he first spoke to her. She was shocked that her mask was read through so easily. It was one of the reasons she would trust him with anything, more so than anyone else. Because despite being a stone-cold hardass, he eventually started to care.

"Yes, anytime." And like that, she stepped into the limo and drove off.

"Well, I knew you know her well… I didn't think you knew her _that_ well. I haven't seen her like that with _anyone._ " said a puzzled Yukino.

"Yeah, she is a strange one. Anyway I'll tell you more later. Shall we head in?"

And so, Hachiman was glared at for the third time that day.

Classes were boring. That was all he had to say about it. Tons of informations that would be relevant to about 1/10th of the students attending. Especially if it was stuff he already knew. It was lunchtime when he went up to Hayama Hayato.

"Oi, Hayato. Mind telling me what you're doing here of all places?" He said as he walked up to the most bland social circle in the school. He received a glare yet again, from the blond haired one. Everyone seemed to gather around her desk like some queen bee. _'So she is the social hub around here. Interesting. And apparently, like everyone else, she also has feelings for Hayato. That guy isn't stupid. Why does he not confront anyone about it?'_

"Hachiman. It's good to see you." He said giving a classic smile to him. Meanwhile Ebina was nosebleeding for god-knows-what reasons.

"What are you doing here? Last I heard you were in Osaka." asked Hachiman, now a bit embarrassed getting stares from everyone in the class.

"Well you know.. Dad wanted a change of pace, so we moved back to Chiba and here I am at Sobu High. Better question is what are _you_ doing here?" said the school prince.

"Oh.. same reasons… Tokyo was nice but not home now was it?" He decided not to slip out that tiny piece of information just yet.

"Is your mansion even in the city limits?" Hayato joked. ' _Mansion!?'_ Everyone looked shocked but Hachiman was unfazed at the looks he was getting. Pretty much the same face everyone who didn't know him made.

"Oh Ha-ha. Anyway, nice talking to you, but I've gotta go get some lunch." He said, excusing himself. However, Luck was not on his side today.

"Yahallo Hikki!" Came the voice of one very bubbly girl, presumably coming from the restrooms.

"Oh hey." He knew there was no running from her now that her eyes have locked on to target. That, and well, he couldn't really _run_ now could he?

"Where are you going?"

"To the canteen. I don't bring lunch."

"Oh. I need a drink too, Can I come with you?"

"Be my guest. It's not like I can outrun you either."

There was a few moments of silence as they walked to the elevator. They got in and he pressed the button for the first floor.

"So, I heard you joined the Service Club."

"Yeah. I hadn't found anything interesting at the beginning of the year, so I was really happy to find a club where we do almost nothing." How she could say that with a smile was beyond him.

"So you joined because you didn't have to do anything? Then why join the club in the first place?" 

"Ne, I was joking about that part!" She pouted, when suddenly she heard a chuckle from him.

"I know." and with that he limped out of the elevator, and her running after him.

"By the way, where are you eating? I didn't see you in the classroom…" he asked out of curiosity more than anything else.

"Oh I'm eating with Yukinon in the service clubroom."

"Ah… You waste no time in making advances do you, Yuri-gahama-san?"

"Hikki!" She punched his arm half-heartedly. He was still smiling.

The school was healthy for him. But at the same time 99% of the social circles were toxic.

"Why don't you join us Hikki?" she asked out of the blue.

"Huh? I don't know…" He was already eating one meal a day with Yukino.

"Come on Hikki! Let's talk now that we are clubmates!" she pleaded. For some reason he had just couldn't refuse that face. It was the kind of face a dog pleading their master made.

"Ah, alright." They bought the items and walked to the service clubroom, where Yukino was patiently waiting with her lunch out on the new table in the middle of where Hikigaya and Yukino sat the day before.

"Yuigahama-san, may I ask where you picked up this trash from? If possible I would like to spend no more time than I have to with-"

"Well, I love you too honey." He said sarcastically as he sat down into his chair and put his cane on the table.

"Convenience food? You eat my homemade delicious cooking for dinner and stoop to this level when I don't make you food? Is this how you plan to ruin your degenerate life once we get married?" she ranted on about how bad eating convenience food was and was leading ahead in the argument but she forgot one slip that Yuigahama hung on to.

"Marriage?"

Silence. Then…

"Oh Shit."

 **A few minutes later…**

"Uhm…. do you want to explain this or should I?" asked Yukino, a bit embarrassed that she was the one to let something like that slip.

"I… honestly don't even care at this point…" Hikki said distastefully.

"It's alright! I think I know what's going on!" Said Yui, raising her hand up.

"You… Do?" asked Yukino skeptically.

"Right! You don't have to explain. Ah… Two mismatched lovers, who are unable to be together, Strike themselves with the burden and devote their love to one person, with engagement so that none may come in their path to infinite happi-" A hand went and covered up Yui's mouth before she could spout any more nonsense.

"Before you get any more delusions Yuigahama-san…" started Yukino.

"I won't bore you with the details, but to sum it up, Yukino's dad and mine are childhood friends. About 10 years ago they got piss drunk and had the amazing idea of having the same grandchildren…. And here we are." Seriously. What was wrong with those guys?

"Yes, that about sums it up." said Yukino in agreement.

"Uh… I'm not sure what to make of this… But you haven't argued against them?" asked Yui.

"Well, I don't know about Yukino here, but I was sent here based on my request. My mom asked me to at least wait until high school ends before I make a decision about the engagement, after I met her. After all, I have the right to dissolve it myself only when I turn 18." Said Hikigaya, sitting on his chair and tearing open the plastic wrapping of his lunch.

"Wait… What?" asked Yukino out of the blue. Hikigaya paled, knowing where this was going.

"You had a choice? You got to choose?" Said Yukino, getting up and trembling. In a second she ran past him and out the room. With perfect timing, Hiratsuka was at the door when it was opened.

"Excuse me." She said in haste as she ran past the teacher.

"What was that about?" asked the teacher, dumbfounded.

"Ah…. I better follow. Is the rooftop open?" asked Hikigaya, surprisingly collected as he got up from his seat.

"Yes, or at least it should be."

"Then if you'll excuse me sensei." and with that he limped out of the room.

 **At the rooftop**

"You know the elevator doesn't come up here right?" Said Hikigaya, rubbing his leg as he walked/limped to Yukino, who was staring out at the school near the edge.

"I never asked you to follow me, stalker-kun." She said, trying to put on that playful tone of hers, but failing.

He pulled out his little orange bottle of painkillers.

"Still haven't lost the bark have you Yukino?"

"No. How did you know to come here?"

"Well, you've been bullied nearly all your middle school life, segregated because you intimidated the other girls, I presume, with looks and intelligence. Where else is a girl without friends not feeling safe at school going to go to spend her time during the times they can get to her? It's a force of habit. That, and Rooftop? Seriously Cliche."

"You make it sound all so easy, Hikigaya-kun." she said with the smallest of smiles on her face.

"How did you know I was bullied?"

"Well I would say 'I saw it in your soul' and sound all psychic, but no. Easy assumption. Girls ALWAYS have friends. If not, they're always bullied. Pretty easy to extrapolate from there."

They stared out onto the school field where people were walking and chatting.

"To think that the perfect woman has so many issues. Sorry, but it must suck being you."

"And I to you. Not everyone basks in the lonesomeness you desperately try to enjoy. You weren't always like this. Even with those eyes-" He scoffed at that "you would still be able to have friends. What changed that?"

"I- Um" He stammered. The cat had caught him.

"So there is something that makes you alienate people."

"Ah, not bad. You almost tricked me there, I must say."

"Anyway. Back to what we're doing here." said Hachiman, suddenly serious.

"Tell me Hikigaya-kun, how is your relationship with your mother?"

"She and I are very close. Of course, Every birthday she _Has_ to tell me how she cherishes me more than anything in the entire world…" He mumbled that last bit in embarrassment.

"And what about your family in general?"

"I know what you're getting at here, Yukino. I won't sugar coat it either. My family, is liberal to whatever I choose to do. They know that I have absolutely no interest in taking over the company. That department is much more in Komachi's ballpark."

"So basically, You're life is what mine could have been, but never will be."

"That's one way to put it. I know enough about your mother to know your position on this engagement. It's also the reason Haruno tortures you mentally."

"What?"

"Think about it. Your sister, moulded over by your mother, stripped of all freedom and groomed into the perfect daughter, capable of taking over the Yukinoshita name in the prefectural diet. How do you think it makes her feel, to see you so free, liberal, away from everything she had to go through in her life. Haruno is trying to be to you what your mother was to her."

"But-"

"Listen, I don't blame you, nor can I blame your sister for what she is to you." 

"I just don't get it… why? That's my only question..." she was on the verge of tears now. In any normal situation, a hug would be the only way out of this. And so he did. Her eyes didn't open as she felt his arms wrap around her, awkwardly so, and they just stood here, in an embrace, albeit the first one she's had in quite a while. He let go after a few seconds.

"Listen, if you want me to break this thing off after we graduate, that's fi-"

"No thank you." she said, confidently so in her tone.

"What?"

"You are right. I am perfectly fine with giving this a test run until we graduate. Until then I shall keep an open mind towards this, if that is alright with you."

Wait. Was she _smiling_ just now?

"Let's go. We must have kept Yuigahama-san waiting for quite a while." She grabbed him by the arm and started pulling him along.

"Hey wait! I can't walk as fast as you! Ugh… People used to have more respect for cripples you know!"

 _And so, the service club would begin to operate in peace._

 **(1) Pavlov was a scientist who experimented on dogs. At meal time, he would ring a bell and food would be given to the dogs. Soon enough, the dogs realized that if they weren't fast enough, the food would run out, which led them to instinctively react to the sound of the bell. Pretty much how Haruno has mentally tortured Hikki to instinctively react and hug back.**

 **A/N: Hey guys, I know not a lot happened this time, but I wanted to establish some of the relationships that Hachi already has at this point, like Hayato and Haruno. I felt that Hikigaya and Haruno have a great 'friendship' in the anime, despite the way she treats Yukino. So, next time will include a very awkward explanation and a coffee shop meeting between Hikki and Haruno.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Hey Guys! This is the final time that I will ever be this delayed on FanFiction. My Laptop destroyed itself from the inside out. Luckily, I had the chapters on my google docs, and unfortunately, It took me a month before I could get the laptop back, which is why I have not uploaded jack sh*t. Now however, I am on Christmas break, so I can upload chapters as fast as I was when I made this story. Also, I just turned 16, so I feel re-energized!**

 **As for Zaimokuza…. I haven't changed much from the anime version. He's definitely one of my favorite characters in the series, because I find him to be absolutely hilarious. Also this chapter involves a bit more of Yukino's 'Ice Cold Queen' persona, rather than what we've seen over the last few chapters.**

 **On with the story!**

 **Before we start, I would love to hear you guy's and girl's suggestions for changing the name of the story, because I didn't put any thought into it when I first published it, and I was left with a Different Circumstance, which is very plain. Give me thoughts. Should I change it? And please, give me suggestions if you have any! My PM and reviews are always open to all!**

 **OK, NOW on with the story!**

 **Same day, After school**

After that battle with emotions on the roof, our beloved main character was seen walking towards the recreational side of the building through the second floor, leisurely walking/limping at his own pace to the Service club room. For some reason he had this nagging feeling in his stomach, almost as if he _really_ shouldn't go club today.

He walked up to the door, where Yukino and Yui were already standing with a nervous look on their faces, trying to look into the clubroom.

"What are you two up to?" asked Hikki in his usual blunt fashion, not paying much care to why they were acting like this. They both jumped at hearing his voice and turned to him.

"There's a suspicious person in there…" Said Yukino, pointing to the clubroom. He didn't really think that someone could have snuck into the campus like that, but better safe than sorry. It was then that he noticed the shadow of a figure inside the room.

He opened up the door to the clubroom, Yui and Yukino standing behind him as he stepped into the room. They were greeted by the sight of several papers flying around by the open window, the sunlight gleaming in, only to be blocked by the figure of the suspicious man, who was wearing a brown coat over the school uniform. Only one thought ran into Hikigaya's mind. _'Oh God… Please don't tell me that's who I think it is!"_

The Service club members could almost _feel_ the smile on his face which, was facing away from them.

"To think we would meet here of all places… I have been awaiting your arrival, Hikigaya Hachiman!" He dramatically turned around and made a stance. In his mind, Purple energy and aura was flying around him, giving off his dramatic entry. Yukino being Yukino, regained her composure first and turned to Hikigaya.

"An acquaintance of yours?"

"I don't know him. Even if I do, I don't." He said quickly and looking away.

"Oh, so you would forget the face of your comrade Hachiman? You disappoint me!" he said, holding an imaginary katana in his hand.

"He called you his comrade", said Yui looking at him.

"Indeed! Surely you remember the hellish days we crossed the fields together?"

"I may have been gym partners with him once in junior high." he finally admitted.

"Ah, what a cruel worldly tradition…. Form pairs with whoever you like." He clenched his fist, "I know not when I should meet my end!" he said with conviction.

"What do you want, Zaimokuza?" he asked in a slightly irate tone.

"So you _do_ know him!" said Yui.

"Yes. I am the Blademaster General, Zaimokuza Yoshiteru!" he said, the classic glint of the sunlight slashing against his lens.

"I think your friend wants something."

"He's not my friend."

"Indeed I have no friends!"

' _He's actually proud of that!?'_

"No seriously…. I'm a loner" he said in a softer voice that no one heard.

"Question! This is the Service Club, is it not, Hachiman?" asked the rather eccentric person.

Yukino answered his question for him. "Yes, This is the service club."

"I see, So Hachiman, It appears that you are obligated to grant my wish. To think I would remain your master after one hundred years. Perhaps this is the goodwill of the great Bodhisattva Hachiman!"

"Hm? Did you say something?" shrugged Hachiman.

"Arghh! Why must you be so cool Hachiman!" He cried anime tears to his loss.

Meanwhile in a universe of ninjas far far away, a certain silver haired man was smiling. It seems like his way of life had passed on to newer generations in other planes. In another part of the same universe, a man in a green spandex was crying anime tears, sharing the loss with his comrade from years in the future.

Zaimokuza fell into monologue and the others blocked him out for a minute.

Hikigaya felt a pull on his blazer and turned to see Yukino looking at him with that cat-like look that she always makes when she's thinking or curious, it being the latter in this case. She leans up to his ear and voices out her question.

"So what is this 'Blademaster General' thing?" she asks, honestly. Hikigaya couldn't help but smirk to himself at that. _'Wow, you really are a sheltered child aren't you?'_ but somehow she picks up on this and pulls his ear.

"Ow! I didn't even say anything!" did this woman have telepathy or something!?

"I know what you were thinking."

Meanwhile Yui was confused as ever.

He sighs. "Anyway. It's called Chuunibyou (Eighth-grader syndrome)"

"Chuunibyou?"

"Yes. Chuunibyou" Looking back at Zaimokuza who was laughing in his maniacal voice and continuing on with his monologue.

 **One Brief Explanation later**

"So it's not a real disease." Hikigaya finished his very well thought out and clear explanation

"You know that made absolutely no sense right?" said an even more confused Yukino as she furrowed her brows in thought to the mindless and utterly useless explanation given to her. He was acting out a character in his head that just happened to have the same name? What?

"Yeah Hikki that made no sense at all!" chimed in Yui.

"What I'm even more curious about, is how you are so familiar with all of this." Asked Yukino, giving him that speculative stare that showed that she would not move forward with the situation until she finds out what she wanted, piercing his dead silver eyes with her own pair of the same silver-blue ones.

' _Shit'_

"Ah, Well… I might have had a small case myself back in junior high…"

"Wait Hikki! You were one of _those_?" She said eyeing towards the rather unique individual in the clubroom.

"Hey, it was perfectly normal for someone at that age!" He said in defense. Also, He liked to delude himself that the reason he didn't have many friends was because he himself chose to do so, because he was 'different' from the rest of them. If he had the chance, we would love to go back and beat the hell out of that little sh- Ok, let's not stray off topic here.

"I don't think that's ever normal." Commented Yukino. And somehow in all this Zaimokuza had kept on giving his speech.

"There are worse out there." Hachiman remembered only all too well about those kids who were obsessed with _High School DxD_.

"There's actually worse than _that_?" Yuniko actually had an incredulous look on her face at that. 

"Yes."

"Just for reference… Like what?"

"In the beginning… The world was ruled by seven gods. First the gods of creation. The three central deities. This was before the faction war of-" Damn.

"Shit. I almost gave out the whole story. You scare me with leading questions."

All he got in return was a look of disappointment from the two women.

"Anyway, Hachiman. It is time you grant my wish" He said smugly, looking at the trio.

"The Service Club does not grant wishes to people. It only lends a helping hand to aid the students in achieving their goals." said Yukino.

For some reason, he lost all his composure at that.

"Oh, well in that case…. Hachiman! Will you like old times, aid me in my quest for glory? You should feel flattered, that I would still choose you to fight alongside me despite the scars of the last war that has left

you so tragically crippled!"

"I got this in a car crash." He said bluntly and turned his attention to Yukino. "Can we turn down his request?" said in a mock icy tone that would put Yukino to shame.

"So Cold..." Said Zaimokuza with anime tears.

"Either way. You see, Over my years of existence I have lived through several bodies, only to be reborn the way I am now. With the world at peace the way it is, I felt that it was time for me to start to make transcriptions of my days of war with the gods!"

They sweatdropped.

"Anyway, What I would like you to do is read through the first volume for me!" He said, taking out an extremely heavy draft of at least 350 pages **(A/N: Going by how thick it was in the anime and comparing it to my personal copy of Higurashi: When they cry)**

"So basically all we need to do is read through this and give our thoughts to you?"

"Yes. I will appreciate any feedback you can give me. Though I am 86.34% sure it will leave you absolutely speechless!"

"Oh no doubt…" Said Hachiman as he went to grab his own copy, already spotting numerous errors on the first page between grabbing it and setting it down on the table in the room. It was gonna be a long night. Zaimokuza left the room, laughing.

The three official members of the service club sat in silence after the departure of the rather unusual person that left them with a request in the form of heavy, heavy _HEAVY_ reading, that now sat in three large piles, respective to each member of the club. All they could do was stare at the one thing that could possibly kill them in the next 24 hours. Hachiman had taken off his blazer, and had rolled up the sleeves of his shirt to his elbows, and set out a sigh of exhaustion. However this was only the beginning.

' _Join the Service Club, they said. It'll be fun they said. Oh that's right. They didn't.'_

"So…." Yukinoshita broke the silence.

"How should we plan to do this?" asked Yui, nervously.

"Well… Reading does seem to be the only way about it." was the answer of the President.

"You know that this will be mental torture right? Vigorous mental torture? I go through enough mental stress as it is." said someone who held the traumatizing experience of reading one of Zaimokuza's early pieces all those years ago. He did not want that experience again.

"Well what do you suggest we do?"

"Read what we can, and give him his feedback based on that." was the smooth reply of someone who really did not want to spend his night reading. He would much rather watch General Hospital. He was looking forward to seeing what would happen after Sam's affair… What? Can't a man have addictions?

"Oh no. I believe you will completely ignore your duties if given the option, and I won't give you the benefit of the doubt. You shall read till the end, as far as you can go, with me. Tonight." said Yukino in a voice that would bring a tiger to succumb. Damn woman gave no chance of rebuttal. However "with me" and "tonight" were the only ones that really stuck. Blame the teen hormones.

"OK then. In that case be there at 7. In the meantime, I'm going to use what little time I have to sleep, since I won't be getting much of that tonight." said Hachiman as he got up and took out his smartphone.

He pressed a few buttons before finally raising it to his ear.

"Sakuya. Bring the car out, I'd like to go home." and with that, he shoved the phone back in his pocket before putting on his blazer and taking his bag. He was about to leave the room, when Yui spoke up.

"Um, I'm heading out anyway, I'll join you!" she said in her normal bubbly voice and began to pack up her bag.

"Hm. In that case I'll drive you home."

"No, that's not a prob-"

"Forget it, and just take the offer." He said in a voice that said the argument was over before it started. He may be a loner, but that didn't mean he wasn't gallant.

"Oh… Well thank you Hikki!"

"And what about you, dearest?" he said, leaning on the doorframe. Even though he was the one who said it, he felt the heat rushing to his face but quickly suppressed it.

"I'll lock up everything here, I need to wait for my car anyway. See you later." she said, reading up the last page of her light novel.

"You rich kids and your cars…" said Yui as she made her way to the door. "Bye-Bye Yukinon!"

"Goodbye, Yuigahama." she said in a much softer voice than to any other individual.

' _Wow, you already wormed your way in that far huh? Perhaps you aren't as mundane as I thought, Yuri-gahama-san."_

He shut the door behind them and made their way to the elevator and Yui pressed the button. She started a conversation as they waited for it to arrive.

"So, we never really got to talk about it… You and Yukinon…" she said, a bit quietly than her normal tone. He said nothing, indicating for her to say more.

"How can you be so calm and collected about it? Doesn't the thought of marrying a complete stranger bother you in the slightest? I would be terrified!" She half-joked.

"Who says it doesn't?" Now that was an answer she wasn't expecting.

"Huh?"

"What I'm saying is yes, Yuigahama, it does terrify me that one day I'm gonna be married to someone who is a complete stranger. That's why I was sent here. That's why I wanted to come here. So that I wouldn't be marrying a stranger. My parents sent me here with the sole purpose of "Falling in Love" as you people say."

"Then why go along with it? Why don't you just break it off like you originally planned if it really does terrify you?"

"Please. I don't have that option."

"But I thought you said that-"

"I know. I lied. Or to be more accurate, I passed on a lie." Yui just stared, asking for an explanation.

"I know my father all too well. I know he has absolutely no intention of letting me break this off. He told me that so that I wouldn't feel constricted to anything, and I could work without a noose hanged around my neck. He told me I had a choice, but I know better than that."

"But then why pass on the same lie?"

' _Damn, how long does this elevator take?! Oh right, the janitor is up at this hour. Something tells me the writer is going to use this moment to create some cliche character development.'_

 _ **A/N: Yes, that is exactly what I'm doing.**_

' _Damn.'_

 _ **A/N: Just roll with it.**_

' _Ahhh Fine.'_

"Well, I thought she would take some comfort in relishing the fact that if it came down to it, she could ask me to use that opportunity."

"Ow!" shot out through the empty hallway. _'Did this woman just flick my ear!?'_

"You know Hikki, It's not nice to lie to your significant other."

"I didn't know a phrase like that was in your vocabulary."

"But still, promising an escape to her is still worth some merit…" She said slowly and with that the elevator came _FINALLY,_ the aged janitor giving a light greeting before stepping out and pulling his cart behind him. They stepped in and the door closed behind them. Unbeknownst to the two, there was a third person in the hallway who had made it in time to hear their conversation because of the elevator wait, hiding round the corner.

Yes, it's one of those moments. Yukinoshita Yukino stood in the same place after listening in on the conversation they had about her and said person's engagement.

' _I don't know whether to be happy for his effort to try and calm me down by telling me something he didn't believe in, or be mad for lying to me.'_

 **At the School Gate**

They waited for about a minute or two until a really fancy looking black sedan turned around the corner and stopped in front of the pair. The driver seat opened and out came a female driver.

"Goshujin-sama. I hope you had a nice day." she said and bowed respectfully.

"Well, that's debatable." he said, feeling his bag pull down more due to the heavy manuscript stuffed into it.

"Oh, and who might this be!" She said Excitedly. Well, he should have seen this one coming. When two forces of the same speed and velocity meet… Well, bad things happen. _Kinda like that scene from the Dark Knight… This is what happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object! Well if they are Batman and Joker. However these two are WAY too alike._

"I'm Yuigahama Yui! Yahallo!" She responded with the same enthusiasm.

"You must be from the Service Club to be staying this late."

"Yes. In fact today was my first day as an official member!"

"Oh, Well do tell me about it. Goshujin-sama never tells me anything interesting about his day."

"Wow Hikki, this is beyond what I expected, you really are rich aren't you?" She said looking at the fancy female suit she wore and her formal attitude when addressing him. Not to mention the car in the back.

"Hikki?" asked the confused third person before throwing a fit of giggles.

"Don't you dare." Was all Hachiman had to say to that.

"Ahem." Said the Master of aforementioned driver.

"Yuigahama-san is required to be taken home. Please make it quick, I need to get some shut eye." _'before I am forced to take a crack at what will no doubt be trash reading with my undoubtedly attract- wait what? Where did that come from? Damn you teenage hormones! Bad thoughts! Bad Thoughts! Damn it, I knew I shouldn't have read Komachi's 'congratulation' email on finding out! How the hell does she even know some of the things in there!?'_

 _A FEW WEEKS AGO  
_

" **Onii-Chan! What's this about you getting Married? To Yukinoshita Yukino no less! You know how much it comforts me that my precious Brother won't be dying alone! Congratulations, I'm gonna miss you soooooooo much! Wow That gave me a lot of Komachi Points!"** Not nearly as much as it cost you when you said that comment about 'dying alone'.

 **P.S. Now that you'll be living close by I thought I'd send you this Article I found on love making now that you're "getting it on!"**

 **Bye-Bye, I love you!**

 **Step 1: **************************

 **The Contents of this email have been removed for the safety of any children who may have the misfortune of reading this story.**

 **Back To Reality**

"Right away, sir. If you would, please tell me the address Yuigahama-san." And with that they were on their way towards Yui's house. It was pretty uneventful, Yui and Sakuya having some conversation about life in school while Hachiman had made it abundantly clear that he didn't want to be disturbed by instantly putting on his earphones and opening up the manga he was reading on his phone. They were closely approaching the house when Yui spoke up.

"Hey, Hikki." she started slowly, a bit unsure of what to say.

"Yes?" He asked simply, pulling out his earplugs.

"Thank you for being so honest with me."

"Hm?"

"Well… It's just that you said something really personal to me earlier today so, I want to thank you for being honest with me."

"Um… Thanks for listening, I guess." Ah the loner life, this is what happens when you've never done something like this before.

"Ah, this is my stop. Thanks for the ride Hikki! Thank you Sakuya-san." The car came to a stop.

"Goodbye, Yuigahama-san." said the young driver.

"Bye-Bye!" Yui said in her usual fashion, and all she got from Hachiman was a wave goodbye. Now there was a moment of silence before starting up the car again.

"Well, She seems nice. But then again you hate that don't you?" She said, looking over at Hachiman through the rearview mirror.

"I don't know, she's… different. Not like the kind I'm used to." he said, looking outside.

"Is Yukinoshita-san coming over today as well?"

"Yes, some stuff to do with club." Again, he shivered at the mere sight of his school bag.

"Is that the new code, club activities?" she said implying something a lot more in the R section. However after knowing someone your whole life your reaction to stuff like this tends to cease.

"Oh really? What about that little thing you had with Ryuji?" She turned the brightest shade of pink. Bam! Counter-attack, Sakuya took over 9000 damage!

"That… was private. That can never get out can you hear me!" Hachiman had the same smile Sakuya had a few moments ago.

"I don't know what you're getting so worked up about, even if mother found out, she would probably just ask for details being the chatterbox that she is. You didn't hear it from me, but she even made a bet about when he would ask you out. She knows, nothing gets past that woman." He shuddered at the details and gossip that he heard whenever his mother and sister 'shared a cup of tea together' Which in the Hikigaya mansion basically meant, "Let's gossip about everyone in the house."

"Either way, it's a matter of principle!"

"You have my word. Now take me home, I need to pass out."

 **A/N: And that's a wrap. I could have extended this one in length, but we are entering a romantic phase of this story soon enough and it will start to build up from next chapter. I have three weeks to catch up, so bear with me as I waste my days away and continue to bring you all more content. I hope you guys don't give up on this story just yet. This is only the beginning. Time to make amends! Until next time! Feedback always appreciated! Please don't flame me.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Hey Guys! I'm back. Firstly, thank you all. I love reading the reviews, and I'm sorry for my break, however I present to you the extravaganza where I make 3 Chapters and release them at the same time. This is incredibly stupid and time consuming, but I just so happened to have finished everything school related until my Spring break which is next week. And if you wanna blame my neglect to you loyal fans, (Sorry, really!) blame it on my Osu addiction.**

 **Also, I watched Bakemonogatari and Nisemonogatari, so I may write something on that soon.**

 **Enjoy!**

Damn it. Why did he put up with this again? Oh wait, he didn't have a choice. Not only was he reunited with his idiot Chuuni fri- _acquaintance_ , but also the rotten fake bastard that was Hayama Hayato. This was shaping up to be a bad start. He hadn't thought about the consequences and circumstance of what his engagement entailed. What consequences and circumstance you ask? Well of course, that is the fact that Hayama Hayato, is in love with Yukinoshita Yukino. And has been for years.

He could always tell. Hayato and Hachiman, had, believe it or not, actually been friends once upon a time. But not with the one everyone else knows and loves. The Real Hayama Hayato. The one that when broken down, was probably worse than him. He was friends with that person. The man who fakes smiles and keeps appearances. The very type of person Yukinoshita _hates_.

Hachiman would be lying if he said that he didn't notice it before. The way he had no eyes for any of the outright gorgeous girls that literally threw themselves at him. If it wasn't for the subtle look of longing when he saw Yukino, Hachiman would have been convinced that he was gay. Unfortunately Hayato is very much straight, and very much in love. He was deep in thought of how to solve this issue. _'What now? Return to the path of self-destruction that I was on, and make Yukino hate me to the point where she can't stand me? That would probably be enough to break the engagement, thus the next likely option is her and Hayato's union. No, that's a bit extreme, and I promised Mai-chan I wouldn't do that any-'_ He was snapped out of his thoughts when his phone rang. He gulped when he heard the ringtone. Did that girl have ESP?!

"Ara, that sounds like it's Mai-sama, isn't it?" came the voice of Sakuya, who was busy driving. Of course, Mai was the one who had set up her own special ringtone on his phone.

"Yeah…" Well. No point trying to ignore it, because if he does the next thing he knows she'd have flown out to Chiba, and that would be a _very_ bad thing. He presses the green answer button and raises the phone to his ear.

"Hello?" he said in his usual disinterested tone.

"Mou… Hachi-kun, I am super mad!" came a high pitched voice from the other end.

"Umm… What?"

"Didn't you promise me that _we_ would get married one day?"

"Yes. In pre-school. I did." he said nonchalantly.

"Well what happened to that?! You straight up turned around and even slapped off a ring on her finger!"

"Well actually, if you heard the full story, you would know that I had no intention of this happening whatsoever."

"Hm. I know. Anyway, what are you going to do about the first kiss?"

"Isn't that skipping a bit too far ahead? I think the author hasn't even thought that far, knowing his poor writing skills."

"I know. Just wondering when you do kiss her for the first time, and she cutely says, _'That was my first kiss'_ and expects you to go _'Me too'_ how you're gonna explain to her that it was probably your 450th?" He could almost feel the grin she had on her face.

"Damn you. Is this you marking your territory?" He honestly had no idea what the deal was with Girls and the first kiss.

"Just letting the cat know that the bunny has your first."

"Remind me why I dated you again?"

Yes. You heard right. Arato Mai, Sole heiress to the Arato Holdings Company, Long Blue Haired, green eyes, fair skin, and a head shorter than our Rom Com Hero, had taken the mantle of his girlfriend in the past. For quite a while too, 4 years almost.

"Because I'm Cute, funny, and loved you."

"Oh, right. Remind me why you dated _me_ again?"

"I've told you several times Hachi-kun. Because you are the complete opposite of Hayato-chan. You are real. You are _Genuine_. And you loved me."

"Hm. Anyway, why did you call?"

"Well, you of all people know how boring being homeschooled is…"

' _Damnit. It's just as I thought.'_

"So of course, I thought, why not go out and meet my dearest best friends in Chiba, Hachi-kun and Hayato-chan."

"You still call him that?"

"Of Course! You were there when it happened when we were Seven. The most effeminate man I'll ever meet."

"All I remember is you grabbing him and pretty much bullying him into wearing one of Haruno's skirts. He fumbled about and ripped it, but she didn't seem to care, she has more than enough photos of blackmail to entertain her."

"Good Times." she said.

" **S** girl."

"Oh come on, I'm no Sadist."

"You're like a second Haruno in the making, but cuter. Dangerous combination… That's all you wanted to say?" _'Wait… I have the distinct feeling that there is a much more dangerous form of this combination nearing…'_

"Never one to chat, like always. Are you ever gonna get over cold rejection and make some real friends?" her tone had changed completely now. She had a very serious voice, and he responded in kind.

"I have you don't I?" Honestly, he didn't want to have this conversation at the moment.

"You know what I mean."

"I do. See you soon, Mai-chan."

"See you soon Hachi-kun." and with that he wrapped up his phone call. He looked around outside the car window, and it looked like he had gotten home quite a while ago, with Sakuya patiently waiting. Once he was done she got out and opened the door for him.

"Will you be needing me to take you anywhere tonight, sir?" she asked as he was getting out.

"No, I don't think so. See you tomorrow Sakuya."

"Goodbye, sir." she said, getting back into the car and drove off to her own quarters.

Hachiman stared at the car as it went into the distance, before limping back into the building. He rode the elevator up, entered the house and turned on the lights. There really was too much room in this place for just him. Then again, two rooms in his main Family home could make up for this entire apartment. He was too tired to even change at this point, he had done quite a bit today. He plopped off his shoes, bag and cane to the side of his queen size bed, took off his coat, rolled up his sleeves and fell to the soft surface before falling asleep.

 **A few hours Later**

He was awoken by the sound of his doorbell ringing, or at least the intercom from downstairs. He got up and limped his way without his cane to the foyer and answered the intercom.

"Who is it?"

"It's Yukinoshita."

"Come on up." He pushed the button to open the doors. He pulled up his bag and pulled out the 'art' and placed it on the table. He got up again once the doorbell rung and answered it. There stood Yukinoshita, with a bag in her hands. She looked at him with no expression, looking at the fact that he was still in his uniform, his hair was disheveled and looked like he had just woken up. He actually _had_ just woken up, so that explains that.

"I'm sorry, I underestimated how long it would take a woman like you to get ready, shall I come back at a better time, Ms. Hikigaya?" she said with a slight smirk. Hikigaya however was still tired and didn't even say anything before turning around and limped to his dining table. She was right, so he couldn't really say anything. Yukino, however thought she had offended him or something and had changed her attitude completely.

"Hikigaya-kun, I apologize for that comment, are you alright?" she asked with a worried expression on her face. Hachiman on the other hand just used this to put more into his "Yukino" File in his head.

' _Oh, so you can't deal with actually hurting someone like that eh? Ok, I shall name this persona "Guilt Yukino".'_

"Yeah, I'm fine, just tired." and with that sentence Yukino was back to normal.

"Oh, I misunderstood then. I think you mistook my curiosity with concern, Sleepygaya-kun."

' _You were totally concerned!'_

"I hope you are ready, we need to get this done. We can't show up tomorrow and tell Yuigahama-san that we didn't get anything done. Let's eat, and begin."

"Yeah, yeah."

 **Meanwhile, a bit off from our current location…**

"No way! Seriously, you saw her at a bar late at night?" asked Yuigahama to an unknown person over the phone.

"I knew she looked like a scary person, but I didn't really expect this!"

This random chatter continued on for the rest of the night.

 **1 Hour later**

"Hikigaya-kun, I suggest you get down, this isn't worth committing suicide over." Hikigaya stood over the patio door, ready to kill himself after reading just 70 pages of the manuscript.

 **3 Hours later**

"Yukinoshita, I doubt hiring a hitman to assassinate your sister is even slightly related to the manuscript." said Hikigaya after Yukino was almost done purchasing one off the deep web. They were now 200 pages in.

 **4 Hours later**

"No, just because the main character kills the nobility and royal family doesn't mean you can do the same and kill the 'riajuu bastards' at school, Hikigaya-kun." 340 pages in.

 **5 Hours later**

"No Hikigaya-kun, put your pills away, you'll die if you eat them all at once."

"That's kind of the idea here." he said as he held the 20 or so pills of oxycodone in his hands. 400 pages. They were done.

 **Finally, Morning arrives**

Hikigaya was the first to wake up, the pain from his leg being the root cause. Despite the suicide attempt, he actually forgot to take one before going to bed. Well, the more accurate description would be before he was so tired he passed out leaning back on his couch. He tried to get up, but felt a weight on his chest. The smell of a nice shampoo entered his nostrils, and black filled his lower peripheral vision. This was because Yukinoshita's head was on his chest, and she was sleeping peacefully leaning up against him, with one of his arms around her shoulder, holding her in place.

Wait… What?

This definitely entailed a very awkward conversation when they woke up, but that wasn't the issue right now. The issue was his leg. Spotting his little orange bottle, he reached for it, careful not to move her so as to wake her up, and plopped one into his mouth. He retained his earlier position and went back to sleep.

 **An hour later, Yukino POV**

It wasn't long before Yukino's accustomed internal clock woke her up for school. She was conscious, yes, but for some reason, she felt at ease and warm to the point where she didn't want to get up from where she was. She enjoyed the warmth, and opened her eyes after a small bit. She was hit with a bit of white filling her vision, and seemed to be a cloth. The scent she was smelling was of a pretty high end cologne, but not overpoweringly strong. Huh, that's funny, it almost smelt like Hikigaya-kun.

Wait… What?

She opened her eyes fully and looked up to see that she was in fact on Hikigaya's chest, and to top it all off, they were what people called 'cuddling'. She was probably blushing heavily, but it went away after a short while. She tried to rationalize it.

' _Well, I probably fell asleep in here due to how late it got. I passed out, I was cold, and clinged on to something that was warm. Right. And it just so happened that the 'something warm' turned out to be Hikigaya-kun, right.'_

Despite her efforts, she failed to stay awake due to how tired she was, and was about to fall asleep again when she was shaken up.

"Oi, Yukinoshita. Wake up." she was immediately startled by the voice and jumped from her position on his chest to next to him, and the blush that was leaving her face rapidly returning. She looked up to find him intently staring at the large TV on the wall.

"Um-Er… H-Hikigaya-kun, you were awake?" she managed to stammer.

"Calm down, It's fine." He said and turned up the volume of the TV, that he had muted as she slept. The Main Character's battle cry of some Shonen Anime rang through the house. On this, the table was rather reversed and she felt a pang of anger that he was so unaffected by the intimate act they just did.

"Oh, please pardon my fright, I feared for my Chastity, as you can imagine with those eyes of yours, Hiki-pervert-kun." she repeated as she had the day he joined.

"Hm… Chastity… Doesn't our engagement mean that you gave that to me?" he said without moving his eyes from the TV.

"Uh…" Wow, Checkmated twice in one conversation, she must really be tired. She noticed the bags he had under his eyes, and the tired expression he wore. She probably looked like hell too.

"Anyway, you might wanna head back to your own place and freshen up. We still have school today."

"Right. See you in school, Hikigaya-kun." she said, getting up and grabbing her things and went to the front door.

"Sakuya is waiting downstairs, she'll take you down the block to your place." he said absentmindedly as he walked to his own room. She shut the door and left.

 **A few hours later, Service Clubroom after school**

Yukino sat at her end of the table, closing up her little paper of notes that she had taken from Zaimokuza's manuscript. On her left were Yuigahama, and opposite Hikigaya, as normal, and of course, not to forget Zaimokuza on all fours weeping at the verbal barrage ripped onto him.

' _Note to Self: Keep Yukino happy. A tired Yukino is not a happy Yukino.'_ were the thoughts running through Hikigaya's head right now. Seriously. It was almost summer and he could feel the chills Yukino's Aura was giving off.

"It's no matter. I shall strive on, as I have in the past! Hachiman, will you join me in my second attempt to tell the tale of our-"

"No. Absolutely not." He said, not even looking up from his light novel. Well, as much as he could read anyway, he was so tired that he was unable to focus on any of the words.

"Fine! Suit yourself, but be warned, for I shall return." he said dramatically as he left the room, shutting the door behind him.

"For our sake and good health, let's hope he doesn't."

"Come on Hikki, it wasn't that bad." said Yuigahama with a smile on her face

"You didn't even do anything! And stop calling me Hikki."

"As much as I don't want to say it, Hikigaya-kun is right. You completely ignored your duties as a member of this club, Yuigahama-san." said Yukino.

"Ah- Um… You're right. But I'll make up for it. In fact, I think I have a student in need of our help! That could be our next activity."

"Oh, really? Please do continue."

"Well, There's this girl, Kawasaki Saki…."

 _TBC_

 **A/N: And that's a wrap for this chapter. Slower progression than I intended, but I'm gonna ease into it and set up an atmosphere a bit longer before I move on to significant events like the Summer trip, since I want to establish more of the relationships that will be affected by Hachiman's difference here.**

 **Also, I made it a bit longer than normal. I do hope to get one more chapter done soon.**

 **Hope you guys enjoyed, I stayed up till now editing (1 AM for me) , so pardon any small punctuation errors and whatnot.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Well, here we are. Next month we'll hit 1 year of this story, and seeing how far it's come, I really feel like crap. Well, at least the newcomers can enjoy it.**

 **Here you are.**

" _Ah- Um… You're right. But I'll make up for it. In fact, I think I have a student in need of our help! That could be our next activity."_

" _Oh, really? Please do continue."_

" _Well, There's this girl, Kawasaki Saki…."_

 **Story Start!  
**

"Hm… So she's apparently known for being a bit scary, has a roguelike look on her face. She's often late to school in the mornings a lot and I don't know how true the last rumor is, but a friend of mine told me she saw her leaving a bar late at night. She looks like a real delinquent." finished Yuigahama, giving the other two some perspective on what could become their next focus student.

"And this would quite possibly explain why she's often late to school the next day." Said Hikigaya with a contemplative look on his face.

"Yes, that may be a correlation, but that's not the issue here, if she really is indulging in alcohol, then relating that to how often she's late means that she probably does this 2-3 times a week. That, in any situation can't be healthy." said Yukinoshita.

"Ok then, should we scout out this place she frequents… Hey what kind of shady place would your friend had to have been in to see an underage classmate leave a bar?" asks Hikigaya, as observant to every detail as ever. 

"Actually Hikki, that's the strange thing. It was in quite a posh part of town. Do you know that new tall building on Togane Highway? Apparently it was the skybar at the top floor there. My friend was eating dinner with her family when she saw her."

"Oh… That makes things easier then. I happen to own the place." he said nonchalantly, closing his eyes but trying hard not to fall asleep from the previous night. There was silence in the whole room, and he could feel the looks he was getting. He opened his eyes to Yuigahama practically having question marks flying over her brain.

Yuigahama, being our beloved airhead that she is, obviously does not follow business and underestimates the level of society of who she oh so affectionately calls 'Hikki'. Her eyes widened.

"Your family owns the bar?" she asks, curiously, as if not believing it the first time.

"No, dummy, I own the building." It would be ridiculous to say that her eyes widened even more, if that was even physically possible.

"Ok then, It's decided, tomorrow evening the three of us will go to this skybar and figure out what's going on." he said, closing up the light novel that he wasn't reading.

"Tomorrow? Why not today?" And with that sentence out, Yuigahama let out a very, _very_ nervous laugh as she received two piercing glares from both sleep deprived To-Be-Weds.

"Oh… Right… Tomorrow it is then." She said quickly following up with another laugh and sweat rolling down her face.

"Hm… Alright, wear something nice. Yukinoshita, no need to come by tonight, we're both way too tired. I'll order in." he said, getting up and packing his bags.

"Agreed." said Yukino in response.

The pain in his leg gets noticeably worse when he's tired, and you could definitely tell that he was leaning on his cane a bit harder. As expected, he pulled out his painkillers and downed a few before zoning back into the conversation.

"Eh, Yukinon, Are you sure it's okay if I borrow some of your clothes?"

"Yes of course, I have plenty fit for formal and casual occasions, what with my family being the way it is. We could go now if you want to, I don't plan to sleep until later, it will ruin my sleep schedule." she said. Hikigaya could see the slightest traits of amusement, engagement, and even happiness on Yukinoshita's features as she spoke to the bubble of a nice girl in the room. He bid his farewell with an absent-minded pleasantry from both of them. He limped out, his gait gotten noticeably worse. As he left the room he had only one thought.

' _You really work fast, don't you Yuri-gahama-san? At this rate, I'll be forced to marry Haruno to keep the agreement because Yukino confesses her undying love for you!'_

Whether he wanted to or not, he shivered. He may consider Haruno a friend and a person close to him, but being engaged to her would make him putty in her hands. He brushed his random thought process aside. Soon, he got into his car, opened his book, engaged in conversation with Sakuya a bit, and went home.

 **Hikigaya's apartment**

He had just been dropped home and really wanted to sleep after the night that he had faced. He entered his apartment, dumped off the bag and went straight for the bedroom, with a short glance over his living room. He didn't even look before he plopped himself down and took off his shoes and shirt. He quickly changed into his boxers and t-shirt before lying down on the bed. He wanted to really just pass out, but he stared at the ceiling for a good 5 minutes before finally acting again.

"Hey, Mai-chan, how much longer do you wanna pretend to be asleep?" He said, and sure enough streaks of blue entered his peripheral vision as the person on the other side of the queen-sized bed sat up.

"Ishishishi… Hi-Hi Hachi-kun! You didn't notice me there for a second, didn't you?"

"I knew you were here since the moment I entered my apartment. The bathroom door was left open, the balcony wasn't locked, the tv remote wasn't where I left it with a glass filled with an overtly sweet drink even _my_ standards lying on the far side of the kitchen, a brand I know only YOU drink." he said. He specifically bought it for that reason alone.

"That's the only reason you kept that around here, didn't you?" She said, pushing her majestically blue hair back, with green eyes boring into his own dead ones, a playful smile on her face.

"Of course. What do you want? Are you here for that holiday you were talking about?"

"Oh as of now… Nothing. I just had business to attend to here in Chiba, I'll head back to Tokyo tonight. I'll definitely take you up on that offer though, trust me!"

"Please don't tell me you're gonna marry Hayato or something now… God only knows why you're here with the week I had."

"Mou, Can't I check on my best friend every now and again?" she fake-pouted.

"Yes, but sleeping in an Ex's bed with whom you have gone to second base with is highly alarming on the other hand." neither of them went red faced that that, the two of them simply stared at each other with a deadpan look before breaking out in laughter. Arato Mai was everything to him. She stood by him in even his darkest moments, and he was eternally grateful to her. But both of them knew for a fact that they could not stand each other when they were in a relationship. They had evolved more like old siblings that love each other but can't stand each other for the life of them when they were actually together. Mai lost her smile slowly as she stared at the gaping scar that was pretty much a hole in his leg at this point. His short boxers revealed quite a bit of the scar, and she couldn't help but raise a hand to it and touching it briefly before being stopped by Hachiman.

"Don't do it… I'm fine." He said, losing all the humor in himself as well. It was a reminder to himself. It was a reminder that he couldn't always come out unscathed when he did stupid things for the sake of others. He'll never forget the look that little girl had as she cried in his lap when she visited him at the hospital and the happiness that he felt, nor will he forget what he went through to achieve it. He was done committing social suicide for the sake of others. He need to teach them how to get out of something themselves, or in his mind, they could go to hell.

"I need to go now Hachi-kun." She said, getting off the bed. Despite all he said about being alone, there was something that he didn't want to let go off as she left the room at that moment. She was his driving force for years, and his methods and habit of pushing people at an immeasurable length had almost destroyed them at one point.

"Mai-chan… Come back soon. I… I need you here." He said with an utter honestly that he felt almost ashamed to say out loud.

"No, You don't. You don't need me here at all." She said, with her back turned to him. His eyes moved to her.

"But… I'll be there anyway. Because you don't need me here, you WANT me here." she turned around, smiling to her oldest friend. He smiled back. She walked up to him and kissed him on his cheek before heading out, and the sounding bang of the front door was heard moments later. He leaned back to his bed to contemplate his dynamic in his relationship. Because he knew the reason Mai came to see him today. She was also a reminder.

She would never abandon him, and he would never abandon her. It was the underlying factor of their entire history, Hayato included. Leave no man behind. As much as Hachiman despised Hayato and vice versa, even they knew to abide by that golden rule. This is what Mai came to remind him of.

All the more reason why he was so worried that he was set to marry the woman his closest friend loved. She needed him to remember that.

If things played out the way he thought they were gonna go, then he really would need her here.

 **A/N: And there you have it! I am currently working on an Oregairu two/three shot piece that you guys can look out for, since I will be releasing the full piece at once. I personally think the story for it is very well made, so I hope you guys will enjoy it when I release it in the near future.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Once again, I return from the dead to oregairu. I'm sure most of you have seen me around the fandom, constantly reviewing and interacting with fellow writers on the side. I decided to take a short break from writing so I could get a grip on school, since let's just say I didn't exactly excel in some stuff. (Math) So I needed to get back into shape since I'm a retard and chose 2 sciences. That aside. I will try my best to update, midterms have just ended, and we have our 1st term exams to focus on in two weeks, but I will return soon after, and continue on the path to lonerism and self-destruction.**

 **Also, I decided to try out a first person point of view from Hachiman, since I understand that's how the LN was originally written, and a lot of writers here follow that, so let me know if I did an alright job with it.**

 **Anyway, let's start the story.**

Hachiman was definitely a loner. This was no joking matter, on either end. He generally hated people, and backed away as much as he could. But a recurring factor in his life was that he had somehow ended up filthy rich. So naturally, when people see him back away from people, they admire his edginess rather than branding him a freak. No matter what he did, he always had a fanclub. Whether it be the guys, for his uptight attitude with dreams to become just like him, or even girls, who were looking past the dead eyes in factor of who he was and the fact that he actually had a fairly handsome face. However when it came down to it, he was a loner of his own accord.

 **A/N: Then why… IS HE BETRAYING HIS BRETHREN AND GOING ON A DATE WITH TWO BEAUTIFUL WOMEN TONIGHT?!**

"Oi, shut up over there. I was doing a third-person monologue." said Hachiman to seemingly nothing.

 **Line Break**

 **Hachiman First-Person POV**

Well this is an interesting one. Getting to see into the head of the great bodhisattva Hachima-... Okay, maybe this wasn't such a good idea.

Anyway. I'm at a gripe here. If you must know, I am currently in the service clubroom after school. To the right are two girls that I have met with quite by circumstance. One being the girl that I am set to marry in a few years, and the other is a Yuri-Yuri girl here to steal aforementioned future-wife's heart. Well maybe that's an exaggeration, but you get the point. Now everyone else's mind, this is a classic Rom-com/harem that I have flung myself into, but no, I am not that lucky. One of the girls is here only for the other, and the other would rather kill me than have to spend an eternal lifetime with me. I actually fear for my life when I think of my future sister-in-law… I think I just wet myself. Oh well, always time to contemplate Seppuku later.

I turned to my gaze slightly to the left, where the *cough* gifted girl was animatedly chatting away with the raven haired one. It appears they have found some form of friendship.

But this is a one-sided adventure. Yuigahama is the kind of girl that can talk to anyone for hours with them not saying a single sentence. Because she is a nice girl. She can automatically get along with anyone. This is most certainly not new for her. Yukinoshita on the other hand, for her this is a new experience. She's at a loss of what to do, and this is probably her first friend in a lifetime. Right now, I can only wonder what form their friendship will take. Will it be close to something genuine shared by both of them? Or will it take the form of the cold reality that was once shoved in my face, with Yukino crying on the floor?

I was shaken out of these thoughts when a resounding knock was heard at the door of the service clubroom.

"Come in." came the voice from my left, being Yukinoshita. With a short glance towards her, my eyes averted to the door sliding open, with that another girl had entered the clubroom. Her appearance wasn't lost on me either. She had brown hair, perhaps a shade lighter than my own, in braided pigtails, two reds, and a pink clip here and there, with two beautiful big grey eyes etched on there for good measure, with a smile as if she was an angel of heaven itself.

Have I just fallen in love?

"Shiromeguri-senpai, good afternoon." was the formal voice of Yukinoshita. A third year, huh? She hasn't got much time left here… As I continued to monologue, Yuigahama quickly leaned towards me.

"Megurin-senpai is the student council president." She whispered before taking her seat. Oh, I see. Wait, you already gave her a nickname?!

"Well, excuse my poor manners. These are my new clubmates. This here is Yuigahama Yui-san, and that disgusting thing over there is Hikigaya-kun. If at any point you find him ogling at you, please don't hesitate to bring it to my atten-"

"Hallo-Hallo! It's nice to meet you both!" She said with a gigantic smile on her face, eyes closed and all. Wait… This bubbly attitude… Her smile… That greeting. My eyes darted towards my clubmate. Could it be…. That she was just another giant airhead?!

"Yahallo! It's nice to meet you too!" said Yuigahama, finding her enthusiasm once again. For some reason I feel the universe is going to implode now.

"Hello… Likewise…" I lamely responded to her earlier statement, closing the book in my hands and taking the cane off the table. From the corner of my eye I could see her staring for a second or two at the object before averting her gaze. Not that it bothered me, just something worth noting.

"Whenever it's alright with you Shiromeguri-senpai, we can get down your request. I assume you came here with one." Yukinoshita spoke again, quickly getting up to set down a chair for the 'client'.

"Right." She said, sitting down and coughing, so as to indicate her falling into a more formal state. "As you might know the School Cultural Festival is coming up. As the student council president, it would normally be my job to supervise and organize it. However with the upcoming exams nearing I was told by the school committee that I must choose a proxy to head the management of the event. I will be there to supervise the meetings, but I cannot busy myself with the planning."

"That is quite obvious, it makes sense that this is the case, it's quite normal when the president enters their third year. But the question remains, what is your request, Senpai?" asked Yukinoshita.

"Well I would like the Service club to contribute to the council in charge of the festival first and foremost."

"Is that really okay? I'm sure if you've heard of us you've also heard that we're not exactly errand boys, pardon my language." I said quickly. Anything to get less work at this point. This seems like it's gonna be a pain in the ass if I get involved… Especially for me.

"That's okay! I already got full permission from Hiratsuka-sensei!" Damn that old hag!

"Tch… That woman…" I verbally spit out.

"Is there more to the request?" continued Yukinoshita.

"Unfortunately yes… I would just like the small assistance of getting the word around for joining the committee for the event, as well as finding someone to be in charge of the whole thing… But I was wondering… If… Yukinoshita-san…?"

"What?" She asked, clueless.

"Isn't it obvious? She wants you to take responsibility of the event." I said, rather bored of the conversation by now, still a bit irritated by the work shoved in my face.

"... While I'm flattered, may I ask why?" She hinged on the answer almost as well as I did.

"Because your sister was the star student when senpai was in her first year." All eyes darted to me in the room, looking for an explanation.

"I know that Haruno, while on top of the grades, was not exactly the ideal student. She was often tardy, disruptive and participated in every school event. Naturally, she made friends with a lot of people." I said, closing my eyes as Haruno's face flashed through my memories. Why must I meet and care for such difficult people?

The President smiled. "Yes, that's right. But how did you know Haruno-senpai was friends with me?"

"I saw an old photo." I lied. If I gave her the real explanation where I happened to do an intense breakdown of each of their personalities paired with Haruno's 'mask' personality and her 'friends', she fits like no other. But I didn't want looks of pity or disgust if I had divulged this information. Also why do I feel light-headed all of a sudden? What is this angel doing to me?

"Are you close to Haruno-senpai then?" she asked continuing to smile at her memories, probably.

"Closer than I wish." I scoffed, not really serious.

"Um…. Moving back on topic… I think I am going to decline senpai. Thank you for the offer though, really, I am flattered."

"Oh… That's a shame." She said obviously feeling a bit disheartened. Yukinoshita! How dare you even remotely bring down this godsend of cuteness to-... What?

"But it's fine. The offer is always open if you change your mind until someone comes forward. Anyway, I'm sure that you must have other clients or club activities to attend to. I won't take anymore of your time." She said getting up and giving us a slight bow. The three of us gave our respective goodbyes to her.

"Don't worry though, I'll be sure to make it up to you for your work!" She said happily as she walked out the door with a final wave… Hah~ What an amazing girl.

"Hikigaya-kun…"

"Yeah?" I said absentmindedly.

"Are you blushing?"

 **Line Break**

 **Later that evening, before the Kawasaki consult**

Another day. Another event. Another reason to dress up. It seems it was a common theme to put up throughout my life. With my position in life, as the older of two heirs of a huge enterprise, it was often a common theme to get me up to speed on the lifestyle I was born into and how to handle myself. Despite being a useless disappointment, this was something that was drilled into my head.

Blue and Grey suits? Workplace.

Black? Formal events, and out-of-office client meetings.

Tuxedos? Formal events with people that have giant sticks shoved up their ass.

Brown? Business and Casual. Friday clothing, if you will.

Perfect for this occasion.

And so there I was in my boxers staring at the attire I had set out on the bed. A specially made designer slim fitting gold brown suit three-piece, without a shine, and a black shirt. Next to it, a black belt with a dark sky blue tie, and a gold collar pin for the shirt. Black socks and black shoes finally to wrap it up. Golden rule: Thou shall match the color of his belt to that of his shoes. Finally with a black leather strapped Rolex to finish the job, I was done. Time to put the damn thing on.

 **Some time later.**

I'm not gonna lie. Wearing a suit gives me an air of confidence. I feel powerful, I feel like I have more control over everything. I'm not bigoted about my wealth, no. But I don't ignore it either. Putting on my long brown trench coat, and placing my wallet, I grab one of my brown canes from the stand at the door and decide to head out.

I don't even know what we're going to accomplish here, but at least I'm going to have fun doing it.

.

.

The Ride there was uneventful, except for some chiding from Sakuya about 'protection' or something. I was caught in the immersive traffic and city lights around Chiba when I lifted my head as the tall new skyscraper entered my field of vision. The car came to a halt and I stepped out, Sakuya leaving, me giving her ample time to go grab a meal while I did… What was I doing here? Oh right… delinquent student at a bar to confront.

I was interrupted in my contemplation as a black car pulled up in front of me, tinted windows and all. Out of it came the two girls I found myself acquainted with over the last few days, dressed up in a similar style of attire. Yuigahama wore a red… Yukinoshita had a black...- Damn it, I don't know crap about women's clothing, what do you want me to say?! They look beautiful, I'm blushing, yada yada yada. Nice moment. Butterflies and all. You happy now?

I once again stepped out of internal monologue, a bad habit I was developing, when I noticed both girls staring at me, both rather red faced as well. Yuigahama was the first one to speak up.

"Hikki… You look… Nice." she said, rather heavily regretting her comment while averting her gaze. Huh… That wasn't entirely expected.

"Hikigaya-kun…" Not you too Yukinoshita?! After some mumbling the conversation entered a lull as fast as it started.

"Um… Thanks, you both look good as well." I said, only to hear a resounding comment from Yukinoshita.

"Creepy…"

"What was that?" I asked, half annoyed.

"Nothing." She said, immediately fixing her composure.

"Alright, let's go." I said beginning to turn around as they caught up next to me. We began our walk/limp to the security at the entrance over the marble steps.

"By the way, do you guys happen to have even a remote idea of how we want to go about this?"

"No, not really. But I'm sure she'll bring up some form of reaction we can build upon."

"Hm." I respond, limping through and of course as we walk into the reception area the management's eyes have found their way to me. I ignore most stares and just walk to the elevator. We step in and I press the button to the top floor. I can feel my stomach turn as we soar through several floors, therefore defying the force of gravity. When we make it to the top floor I open the door. Naturally I step to the side holding the door open, absentmindedly staring at the four sides of windows surrounding us, giving a wonderful view of the city of Chiba, from the lights of the neighboring buildings to the small shines barely seen on the outskirts of the city. I took off my coat as I let the two do their work, as obviously I have no idea what this… What was her name again? I remember it was something to do with motorbikes…. Honda? Well, whatever, as I was saying, I've never seen this Honda person before, so I let them spot her for me. I looked back with a shake from Yukinoshita.

"Hikigaya-kun that's her", she said, gesturing to the empty actual bar area, minus the bartender. Wait, what? I was expecting this to be a student with a drinking problem… She's diligently working a job? Hiding her age no less, to get a job at a bar AND at night. It must be for the pay-grade… These thoughts were obvious as I am sure they were running through even Yuigahama's head. With a small nod to both of them, we walked over to the bar and sat on the stools.

Her face turned visibly sour upon seeing us. After Meguri-Senpai left, we were visited by Hiratsuka-sensei and we filled her in on our visit tonight, and she told us about her own struggle dealing with the girl as her guidance counselor. Sensei even asked her to come to us, so she no doubt knows who we are and why we're here. Damn.

"You guys… What do you want?" Honestly, she was just working. Her face with the height, hair and eyes gave off that look of being a delinquent. And her personality screams, 'if you don't have something to say directly, don't say it at all.' Before Yuigahama would fail in her attempt to reason what with her attitude, I decided to go for the smartass approach, to try and make an attempt of pumping her for the information we needed.

What? I'm in a suit, I feel cocky.

"Right now, we're just your customers." I said, while slowly gesturing my finger to the side. She glanced to my pointing only to see who was probably her manager peering from the side, making sure that I got the top notch service. She scowled slightly again, before resigning with an irritated sigh.

"What will it be then?" she asked. Yuigahama and Yukinoshita dumbly stared at the menu, with floating question marks over their heads as they read the menus. Wait, was Yuigahama's upside down? It was quite expected. At a sky bar like this people stare at you like you're an idiot if you ask for a coke. So Yuigahama has definitely not been to a place like this before, and Yukinoshita probably not either.

"They'll have two Arnold Palmers." I said quickly, we were getting nowhere like this.

"And you?"

"I'll have a Roy Rogers." I said, wrapping up the conversation quickly. The manager on the sidelines visibly shifted, sighing in relief before going back to work. Turning to my right, Yukinoshita looked at me in a small thanks while Yuigahama had stars in her eyes at my 'ability'. Honestly the drinks themselves weren't even that special. Arnold Palmers are nothing but Ice Tea and Lemonade, and a Roy Rogers is just coke with grenadine, lots of ice and cherries.

It was about 5 minutes before we all got our drinks. I absently played with it, taking a sip every now and then, primarily staring into my phone. When Honda came back I decided to start my questions.

"Well you know we can't leave with no answers right?" I asked looking up at her. She stopped her rinsing of the glass as she looked at me with her classic delinquent look. I looked back with what I thought was an equal fire to match.

"Am I obliged to answer you?" 

"Well normally no, but now we're here extending Hiratsuka-sensei's worry for you." She actually showed some guilt on her face for that, but didn't reply. Hm… Maybe she wasn't really a delinquent? Someone like me, perhaps?

"Why would someone your age need this much money anyway? Are your parents not paying for something you want or…?"

"No… That's not…" She tried to say, coming out as mumblings. No, she was definitely not a delinquent.

"Well, despite the reasons for it, it is our duty to advise you to stop taking this night shift, as it may end up stunting your education as well." said Yukinoshita.

"Yeah! It's important for your school life!" came from Yuigahama. Oi, are you really one to talk Yuigahama?

"I need it for…" She said quietly, but the ending of that sentence was a name. Kei-chan, if I heard correctly.

Ah, I see.

" Just more one question, do your parent's work a lot?" I asked, trying not to sound rude.

"If you must know, yes, they do." She said, fully expecting another meeting with Hiratsuka-sensei tomorrow.

"Alright. We won't bother you any further." I say, quickly gulping down the drink in my hand.

"But Hikigaya-kun, we've hardly-"

"It's fine, there's nothing we can do here. We'll talk at dinner, I'm starving." I said, putting down some money on the table, enough to cover the drinks and then some. I grabbed the cane under the bar and limped off to get my coat, them following me in confusion.

"Hikki…"

"Yeah?"

"That was 7000 yen…"

"Oh. I guess it was." Her eyes widened in shock as I walked away.

We then rode down the elevator. They accepted my proposal of dinner, and Yukinoshita called her driver just as we walked out the door, agreeing that I would call Sakuya over to wherever we happened to be.

As we waited in the brisk night time weather, I took out my phone, looking for Hiratsuka-sensei's number, which she gave us in case this Honda girl was drinking and needed a ride home. I pressed call and it rang three times before she picked up.

"Hello?" her voice came through the other end.

"It's me. I have a quick question. Does this girl happen to have any siblings?" I asked.

"Hah? That's a strange one, but yes, she does. She has a brother in the middle school in his final year, as well as a younger sister, who's registered to the primary school day-care, set on the waiting list for the primary school already."

"And her grades?"

"Well, she's doing mediocrely in her studies, but I advised and we agreed that she does cram school in the summer."

"Hm. Alright, thank you. That's all I needed to know. I'll explain the rest in club tomorrow." with that I hung up.

"Well Hikigaya-kun? What was it that you found?"

"Yeah Hikki! Cmon, tell us!"

"I figured it out with her parents. As you found out, she is most certainly not a delinquent. She's trying to save money for something. When she said her parents work full time, I could only assume it was because of the fact that she's from a fairly normal middle-class family, and Sobu High is a private school, not exactly cheap either. With the fact that she has siblings as I confirmed with sensei, her parents are probably working hard for their three kids to receive the same standard of education. She then arrived the situation where she found that her grades were slipping, and she was advised to attend the cram school over summer, which again, does not come cheap. She's saving up for that. She's not doing anything wrong, she's just trying not to be a burden for her parents and siblings."

"Wow…" said Yuigahama, amazed.

"That's quite impressive Hikigaya-kun." I could only question the contemplative look Yukinoshita gave me as we continued to wait. She was judging me over something. Over what, I don't really know. The car arrived soon and we were going driving around the east side of the center looking for something to eat. My eye caught something as we stopped at a signal.

"There." I said pointing my finger at a restaurant at the corner. Both girls looked to where my finger pointed.

"...Saize?"

 **Line Break**

Both of them sat across from me as we ate the respective meals we ordered, me wasting no time eating down this delicious godsend.

"Hikigaya-kun… I still can't imagine how someone from your family would ever stoop to the level of eating at a place like this…"

"Yeah Hikki! I thought you'd only be interested in gourmet meals!" She said, pronouncing the 't', which she was chided for by Yukinoshita right after.

"You know, I myself didn't exactly live lavish outside of home. It's somewhat tradition in my family to restrict the kids until they reach a certain age. Hell, until I was 14, my allowance was 6000 yen for an entire month. Then comes the car, plane, stupidly high allowance. Just because I was rich didn't mean my parents let me live the life of a prince. Humility is one of the only lessons the family enforces. Naturally, my mind turned to Saize. It's cheap, and tastes good. It's all about enjoyment per dollar!" I said with what I can assume is only a ridiculous look on my face, and continued eating.

"But still… Saize is a bit…" Yukinoshita tried to form an argument between bites, but it was lost on her in the end so she just gave up. Just then, Yuigahama spoke up.

"Guys! My parents told me they're in the area for dinner and they're gonna pick me up." she said, apologizing several times to both of us about leaving early. After about 5 minutes, she left, leaving me and Yukinoshita to talk. We decided to order a round of green tea before heading out. And we quietly sipped it making some small talk and the usual insults before we lulled into silence.

"You know, Hikigaya-kun… There's still so much we haven't spoken about concerning our... arrangement."

"Engagement." I corrected.

"Yes… That. My parents have called us in sometime in the next month. About what is expected of us in the years leading up to our graduation."

"Hm. I'm not worried, just a bit confused… Don't worry Yukinoshita, One of the perks about being with me is… I don't listen to anyone. I'll counter each and every thing they expect of us, because that's just how I am." 

"I'm not worried either, since my father will be there… My mother alone is a different story."

"Hm… I have a question Yukinoshita."

"Yes?" 

"Why did you decline Shiromeguri-senpai's request to lead the council?" I asked her. In truth, I knew full well the answer to the question, but I needed her to have some form of confrontation.

"There's a rebel in all of os Hikigaya-kun. I am doing it simply because if I do exactly what my sister did, then I am not my own person. That… is my goal. To be my own person." She said with a rather unknown determination in her eyes. It was then when I understood her judgemental look earlier.

It was a question to herself. It was a serious questioning, her contemplating my skill and analysis of the situation. How I went about it, how distant I was, how I paved my way through to the answers.

She wanted to know if whether I liked it or not, this skill was planted by my parents the same way Haruno was and is puppeted to this day. She wanted to know who I am. Whether I was Hikigaya Hachiman… Or whether I was just the heir to the name of Hikigaya. And I can't exactly blame her. After all…

I still have the same question lingering over her. Who are you really, Yukinoshita-san?

 _And So, the Service Club enjoys its first days._

 **A/N: Oh boy that took me a while… 4500 words… I was expecting it to be 3000. Well yeah, the next chapter will be snippets of the service club taking on random requests and other stuff from the anime, like the tennis match between Yukino and Miura, Totsuka, etc. Just some lighthearted stuff and establishing some relationships between our Hachiman and the supporting cast. We'll get into the Summer camp and culture festival soon, which I really look forward to.  
**

 **Anyway. I'm finally back. And I have 4500 words to compensate for my lack of trying. Sorry guys, but I hope you like the new writing style and me somehow finding ways to make this stuff this long…**


End file.
